Q: For those that are new to Lindsay Johnston, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your books?
Lindsay: I am a mother of two rambunctious adorable kids, a wife and I work full time for a non profit as an educator. When I’m not working or writing, I also play World of Warcraft, and I enjoy working out (mainly so I don’t feel guilty for eating the way that I do). I currently am working on a fantasy series about a young woman, Tatyanna who has spent her entire life feeling like she doesn’t belong, especially in her own family. Weird things start to happen to her, that she can’t explain and eventually she finds out that she is a princess from a hidden world and has the ability to heal people with her touch. She has to make the choice if she is strong enough to leave the only world she has ever known to save her people that she never knew existed.
Q: At what point in your life did you know you wanted to be a writer?
Lindsay: I’ve always wanted to be a writer. Growing up, writing was very difficult to me partly due to a learning disability so it was something that I always struggled with and never felt good enough. In my youth I was HUGE into scary stories, R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike etc so some of my stories I would write had some sort of blood and gore in it. In High School, I used to write poetry and then as an adult, I had an idea and I just ran with it, and Tatyanna was formed.
Q: Do you need peace and quiet to write or do you have a playlist to keep you going? If you do would you share it with us?
Lindsay: It varies. I prefer to listen to music when I play because it helps keep my mind focus and music helps me to come up with ideas. Music is a big part of my life. I don’t have a play list, I probably should. For Tatyanna, I can tell you that I listened to a lot of Ra and a few of their songs inspired some scenes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raw_(Ra_album) Do you Call my Name, Rectifer What I Am. Fallen Angels, I Lost Everything Today etc. Pretty much this entire CD inspired various parts of the book. One Republic: Stop and Stare
Q: Are your characters always a complete work of fiction or is there an element of someone you know to start the idea rolling?
Lindsay: Oh geez, for this book, Several of the characters were inspired by someone I know personally or an object or previous fascinations.
Q: What are your experiences of being an Indie Author, do you find that social media is a help or a distraction to your writing?
Lindsay: Social media is a blessing and a curse. It’s been great because it’s gotten me connected to the Indie Book World, and to be honest I never realized how big and complex this world really is. It’s a distraction because of facebook’s silly games and spending hours checking out what other people have done or are doing.
Q: What are you currently working on or is it a secret!?
Lindsay: I am currently working on book 2: of my series: Seraphina (Princess of Air). I have also thought about revamping a half written book that is a paranormal murder mystery and maybe publishing it between books 2 and 3. Not sure yet.
Q: For Tatyanna, you created a fantasy world that she was unknowingly connected to, how do you go about creating a new realm like that?
Lindsay: I was a hardcore gamer when I first thought of the idea for Tatyanna. It started with me being bored at work one day and asking myself “Wouldn’t it be cool if this game was real?” from there different ideas flowed through my mind until I settled on the hidden world, something that was once there but not. I have always had a fascination with The Bermuda Triangle and the stories, so I actually used that as a way to create and explain my hidden world. I won’t say too much as to how I did it, you’ll just have to read it and see. :)
Q: If you could be any character you have written who would you choose?
Lindsay: Hmm. A lot of me is already in Tatyanna, I would LOVE to have her gift to heal but I think it might be Terran, I would like to be. He is the Prince of Earth (Yes, I realize I am a girl, he is a boy, but if I could have his powers that would be AWESOME!). You don’t know too much about Terran and what he can do, but he is the Prince of Earth and can control the Earth, plants, trees, nature etc and can communicate with living life. I think that would be cool. I have plastic plants because they can’t die on me if that tells you anything.
Q: What are you currently reading?
Lindsay: The Heir by Eillie Dane and I actually have a few arcs I need to read, one of them is Courage to Fight by Pavan Kaur (LOVED the first book), Loving Ruby by Roya Carmen
Q:Fictional Dinner Party - give me 5 fictional characters or authors who you would have as dinner companions!
Lindsay: Archer and Bree from Archer’s Voice (Heck, Mia Sheridan would work too, the author). I better stick to authors, I’ll get more characters out of them that way. C.M. Owens (LOVE her Sterling Shore Series), Dean Koontz, Stephen King and Nora Roberts.
Thank you so much for taking part in our interview Lindsay! I loved Christopher Pike growing up too! I'm excited to get reading Tatyanna and even more so following this interview, check back later in the week to see my review!
